foster



I (No Model.)

WITNESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. P. FOSTER.

LAGING HOOK FOR GLOVES.

Patented Apr 10,1883.

IN VEJVTOR WU/L' m IRATE/3 flttorne By lzrl;

N4 PETERS, Pholwlithognpher. Wnshingmn, D. c.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets -Sheet '2. W. F. POSTER;

I LAGING HOOK FOR GLOVES. No. 275,628.

Patented Apr. 10,1883

WITNESSES IJVVEJV'TOR I I I h u I I 7 7% By'his Aflorneys FFosze n.PEYERS, mwumnmr, wnhmm. n. c.

UNITED STATES 1 WILIIIAMF. FOSTER, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

I PATE T OFFICE.

LACIING-HOOIKFOR GLOVE'S.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Iatent No. 275,628, dated April 10,1883. Application filed September 6, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, WILLIAM F. Fos'rnn,residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Iiaeing-Hooks-for Gloves,of which the following is a specification.

I In the construction of an efiicient lacing hook for gloves it shouldbe so made that the manner of applying the lacing to it will be readilyunderstood by any ordinary wearer of gloves without instruction, and sothat the lacing can be readily caught in the hook without requiring theparticular attention of the user. The hook should also be so constructedthat when the gloveis laced there is as little liabil-v ity as possibleof laces and other portions of' garments being caught in it. In thehooks which have heretofore been produced the provisions which have beenmade to prevent the engagement of laces, &c., in the hooks have to amore or less extent interfered with and complicated the operation oflacing the glove by rendering it more or less difficult to cause thelacing to engage with the hooks.

The object of my invention is to produce a lacinghook which, before thestrain of the lac ing is brought to bear upon it, will be in a conditionto readily engage with the lacing, but which, under the strain of thelacing, will assume a condition so that the hook will be protectedagainst engagement with laces or other portions of the garment. v

Figure 1 represents an isometric view of a hook embodying my inventionbeforeit is applied to the glove, also the plate which is used inattaching it to the glove; Fig.2 represents a side view of the sameafter it is applied to a glove, (shown in section,) but before it islaced, the cord resting in the book without any strain on it. Thisfigure represents a book of about three times the size I prefer to use.Fig. 3 represents a side view of the same applied to a glove (shown insection) and after it is laced. Fig. this a plan view of Fig. 2. Fig. 5is a diagram, which will serve to illustrate the principle upon which[believe that my improved hook operates, which principle I believemyself to bethe first to utilize. Fig. 6is'a modification of Fig. 5,showing a'somewhat different form of hook. 1 Fig. 7 shows a glove havingmy improved lacing-hook applied to it.

The'material of which gloves are composed is more or less elastic and ispliable. Its tendency is to present an approximately plane surface.When, therefore, a lacinghook is placed upon the material the latterwill tend to hold the points of contact between the hook and material inthe same plane, and this will be substantially the position of the hookbefore any strain is brought to bear on it by the lacing. While in thisposition the hook should be so situated that the lacing can be readilycaught into it.

IVith this object in view I construct my hook preferably of about'theform shown in Fig. 5 by the unbroken curved line. In this figure thehorizontal straight unbroken line 00 a represents the genera-l directionof the plane of the glove material. The form oflacing-hook which isshown meets this plane at the points a and b, which correspond with thepoints at which the lacing-hook would rest upon the material.' bis thepoint at which the prongs are situated, which pass through the materialand secure the lacing-hook to it. Between the bearing-points a and b thehook is curved upwardly somewhat, as shown, so as to form an upwardprojection, 0. ()ntheotherside of a the device is continued upwardly, soas to form the hook proper, terminating in the point at d. Fig. 5 showsa very good form for this hook proper. It extends to a higher levelabovethe plane of the points a and 12 than the projection c, and it thencurves backward and downward to its point, leaving space enough betweenthe projection c and the adjacent part of the hook 'for the passage ofthe lacing-cord. In Fig. 6 the point of the hook is represented as beingabout the center of the main portion of the book, so that thecord, afterpassing over the projection and'being intercepted by the bend oft-hehook, will pass downward around the point of the hook and then upwardinto the bend. Generally, however, it will befound best to form the hookas shown in Fig. 5. The preferable form of the hook is such that thevertical height of the hook, measured inside, is somewhat greater thanthe diameter ofthe lacing-cord, so that when the cord is inside thebook, but not subjected to any strain, its position will be representedby the circle 0, which, it will be noticed,'rests upon the lowestportion of the hook, the hook extending considerably above it. It willbe seen that in the particular form shown the pointfis about the mostdistant point of the hook from the point I), where the hook is attachedto the material. When any strain is brought upon the cord in thedirection of the arrow (which is about the direction of the pull on thecord in lacing the glove) the cord will assumeaposition in the hook asfar distant as possible from the point of attachmentof thehook, whichwill be opposite the point f in the example shown. At the same time thepoint at which the cord bears upon the hook and the point of attachmentto the glove will take positions as nearly as possible in the line ofpull. This is permitted by the flexibility of the material of the glove,which is not under any strain in front of the point of attachment. Theconsequence is that when a strain is brought on the cord and it slips upin the hook opposite the point f the hook at the same time swings downaround the point of attachment I) until it assumes the inclined positionshown by the dotted line in Fig. 5, in which position the pointf and thepoint I) are about in the line of pull, while the position of the cordis shown in dotted lines at 6. Thus the application of the strain to thecord causes the hook to assume a position with reference to the level ofthe projection a lower than before the application of the strain, andthe liability of the hook to catch in the garments is very much reduced,the projection c tending to deflect the garments above the hook. Thechange in the position of the hook thus caused by the strain on the cordwill force the glove material into about the position shown by thebroken line commencing at .11. When the strain is taken off of the hookby the unlacing of the glove the material of the glove tends to resumeits first position in the plane a; .t", and this, together with theelasticity of the arm of the wearer, causes the lacing-hook to swingback to its first position, in which it is ready to catch the cordreadily when required. The pulling which the materialof the glovereceives in taking the glove off and putting it on also tends tostraighten the material out, so as to still further insure the return ofthe hook to its first position.

In the manner above described when the glove is unlaced the hook ispresented in a position to readily catch the cord, but when the glove islaced the hook is so protected as to be unlikely to catch in thegarments otthe wearer. The liability of the hook to catch in the garnfents is still further reduced by making the curve of the hook near itspoint of about the same radius, or of less radius than the radius of thecord, as shown in Fig. 2, so that when the strain on the cord slips itinto the upper portion of the hook the point of the hook will be incontact with or slightly pressed into the surface of the cord, therebycausing the cord itself to assist in preventing the point of the hookcatching into the garments. At the same time the cord itself may be thuspinched by the hook and prevented from slipping.

The efficiency of my hook is still further increased byroundingoifthecorners of the point of the hook, as shown in Fig. 4, asthis provents likelihood of the corners catching in the garments, andalso makes it more convenient to catch the cord in the book.

The efficiency of my hook is still further iiicreased by having thepassage for the cord between the projection c and the adjacent part ofthe hook very slightly narrower than the cord, as shown in Fig. 5,between the points (I and g, so that in passing through it the cord willbe slightly compressed and the glove will thus not be as likely tobecome accidentally unlaced, the hook inside of this passage being alittle wider than the passage, so as to allow the cord to slip freely inthe act of lacing.

The means which I prefer to adopt for attaching the hook to the glove isrepresented in Fig. 7. The prongs it h, which are formed on the hook atb, Fig. 5, are passed through the material of the glove, and alsothrough a corresponding pairot' holes formedin the plate, Fig. 1, whichplate is below the material of the glove. The prongs are then clinchedbelow the plate, and their points are covered by being forced upwardthrough the other pair of holes in the plate, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

I prefer to secure the lacing, as shown in Fig. 7, by placing on eachend of it a ball, 11 t", which the form of the hook is well calculatedto catch, and so prevent the cord from slipping through the hook fartherthan the point where the ball is situated.

I prefer to make the book out of a single piece of sheet metal, which isbent from the blank into the form required.

I have represented in the various figures of the drawings the form ofhook which I prefer to use; but I do not desire to limit myself to thisprecise form, since it may obviously be varied and still retain many ofthe advantages of my invention.

1 am aware of the PatentNo. 166,631, dated July 27, 1875, and make noclaim to the device shown therein. -In it the point of the hook projectsinto a depression contained within a horseshoe-shaped ridge, which, asit extends on each side of the hooks point, requires a very small laceto be used, and also tends to raise the lacing above said point, wherebycare and, precision are necessary to properly insert the cord betweenthe depressions, so as to enable it to pass below the hooks point. Inusing my hook, by a single careless motion of the hand, withoutrequiring the use of the eyes to guide the lace, the lacing is rapidlyand easily accomplished, and when the lace is drawn tight the hook isdepressed and the projection raised in the manner shown in Fig. 3,whereas in the device shown in the Patent No. 166,031 the rise in thebottom of the hook is so small as to have little or no appreciableeffect in this respect, and it was never designed to have any, it. beingmerely the ordinary bend in the metal caused in making the hook of whichsaid bend cord, and the series of lacing-hooks, each of,

said lacing-hooks consisting of a hook and a projection arrangedentirely in front of the hook, leaving a straight transverse passage forthe cord between the point of the hook and the projection, and suitablemeans of attachment, the construction of the hook beingsuch' thatitsupper portion extends above the level ofthe projection,whereby thecord,when laced, will occupy the upper portion of the hook and cause thedevice to incline, substantially as described.

2. In combination, the glove, .the lacingcord, and the series oflacing-hooks, each of said lacing-hooks consisting of a hook and aprojection arranged entirely in front of the hook, leaving a straighttransverse passage for the cord between the point of the hook and theprojection, and suitable means for attachment, the curve of said hooksbeing constructed to extend upward to a greater height than the passageprovided for the cord under 30 its point, whereby provision is made forthe cord to slip upward in the act of lacing, and thereby cause thedevice to incline, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the glove, the lacing- 5 cord, and the series oflacing-hooks, each of said lacing-hooks consisting of a hook and aprojection immediatelyin front of the hook,

and suitable means of attachment, the passage between the hook-point andthe projec- 40 tion being slightly less than the diameter of the cord,whereby the cord is compressed in passing through it.

4, In combination, the glove, the lacingcord, and the series oflacing-hooks, each of 5 said lacing-hooks consisting of a hook and aprojection, and suitable means of attachment, the hook having the radiusof its upper portion, as at j,-corresponding with or slightly less thanthe radius of the cord, substantially 50 as and for the purpose setforth.

"VILLIAM F. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

W. F. HAPGOOD, D. H. DRISOOLL.

